First Hydrogen Corp. announced that its subsidiary, First Hydrogen Limited, has been welcomed into the UK Aggregated Hydrogen Freight Consortium (AHFC). The consortium brings together operators of the largest UK fleets of vans and trucks and predominant members of the hydrogen industry, including hydrogen producers, hydrogen state suppliers and vehicle manufacturers.

The AHFC is led by Element Energy and includes members: Air Products, Anglo American, Hyundai, Toyota and BOC (a member of The Linde Group). The consortium works together with large UK fleet operators to accelerate the commercial rollout of fuel cell vans and trucks and hydrogen refueling infrastructure.

First Hydrogen has already received expressed interest from 10 fleet operators to trial the company’s two demonstrator hydrogen fuel cell-powered light commercial vehicles (LCV). The fleet operators include telecoms, express delivery, national utilities and national infrastructure companies, a national UK supermarket chain, a national vehicle breakdown and recovery association, an ambulance fleet, a national fleet leasing group and a zero-carbon technology group.

The fleet trials will operate across multiple UK locations from West London, Birmingham and Sheffield to Tees Valley and Aberdeen. The fleet trials will allow operators to access the real-world operations, experience range and operational flexibility benefits of hydrogen.

The announcement coincides with confirmation that First Hydrogen’s two demonstrator hydrogen fuel cell light commercial vehicles (LCV) are scheduled for testing and on-road commissioning starting later this month in the UK. The commissioning integrates two MAN eTGE vehicles with Ballard Power System’s Fcgen-LCS hydrogen fuel cell. The vehicles are expected to be road-ready in Q4 2022, allowing for customer real-world usage trials to start in early 2023.

First Hydrogen and Element Energy expect to release more details on the AHFC van program later this year.